SANDERSVILLE, Ga. — Almost a month after a mistrial was declared in the murder trial against three former Washington County deputies accused of Tasing Eurie Martin to death, community members rallied to keep his name alive.
"Lord, we gonna claim healing in this land right now in the name of Jesus and as for the people in this county, Washington county, we need to come together," Jeanette Peacock prayed.
A group of people in Sandersville did come together, in hopes of keeping Eurie Martin's case in the public's attention. Jakirah Fields was part of that group.
"I just want to be a part of the reason that they do return to court to get justice for Mr. Eurie," she said.
The small group held a motorcade, beginning on Deepstep Road, where Martin often walked and where he died, but Crystal Reeves, one of the organizers, feels it lacked support.
"We even tried to get a meeting place at a local church, a Black church in Deepstep, and we were turned down, we couldn't even gather in that parking lot to have it as a starting place for the motorcade," she said about the event.
Martin died after being Tased by officers in 2017.One of his sisters, Barbara Ann Martin, says the ending of their trial made her sad but seeing community support gives her hope.
"Real soon will be 5 years ago, and I feel real good about it that people are still behind it because I believe he's going to come out on top—my brother," she said.
Terry Frazier says it’s not over and is calling on District Attorney Tripp Fitzner to retry the case
"He's here in Washington County doing other things that supports him and the sheriff that benefits him, but they haven’t said anything else about when they’re going to take the jury trial back, but they’re doing other stuff that supports them," Frazier said.
Last month, jurors told the trial judge they couldn't reach an verdict on whether to convict or acquit the former deputies on murder charges. We reached out to District Attorney Tripp Fitzner to ask whether he'll try to re-try the case. He has not responded.